Not For The Better
by margaret aka whymelucylu
Summary: Did you ever wonder where or what Morelli was even thinking when the BABE rescue happened? Well, wonder no more. BABE HEA. Morelli angst. Is there any other kind? Humor within the angst...Like I could really let Morelli be happy? As If. BABE HEA, naturally.
1. Chapter 1

Not For The Better.

Screaming in frustration, Morelli didn't recognize the sounds that were being torn from his mouth at that particular moment in time.

In front of him stood the life long dream, up in smoke. The lights from the ambulance and fire trucks highlighted the snow coming down. Giving an eerie glow to the scene in front of him and the neighbors, all were watching as the house of his dreams were turned into ashes. Huddled in their coats and mittens, _**no one wanted to miss THIS show. Not after they missed the 'kiss to end all kisses' earlier in the day.**_

It had taken him years, years and struggles to make Aunt Rose's house his very own home. And in a blink of an eye, it was all gone.

It was to be the home he always wanted. Joe had saved and saved his money, even cutting back on ordering out on his pizza's. Now he cooked. No more take out's for him.

Joe was getting his someday.

One way or the other:

Walls knocked down, making room for bigger closet space.

One of the bedroom's had been converted into a family room, giving Joe his dream 'man cave' where he could escape from the grind of his job.

His family.

Not to mention his 'wife', now if only 'she' would realize it. Life would be normal. As much as normal could be around Stephanie Michelle Plum that is.

Flat screen television, leather couches.

His own wet bar, fully stocked of course.

_**Snort.**_

_**Yeah. **_

_**Right.**_

_**Running his hands through his shaggy hair, Morelli thought back to how much his life has changed.**_

_**Not For The Better.**_

_**All within the past 24 hours.**_

Morelli had been patrolling his 'assigned area', everyone enjoying the fact he drew the Stark Street neighborhood. Not to mention his old stomping grounds, the motel on Route One became his 'area' as well.

Eddie teased him to the point Joe's vein in his forehead was actually throbbing with his rising blood pressure.

"Come on Joe, just admit it. Stark Street is where you spend most of your time anyway. Ever since Steph started helping Ranger with his new case, she hasn't been around much at all. She practically quit working for Vinnie now, and Tank told me she was getting some pressure to do the business end of Rangeman, once this case is over with. In fact, I got 50 bucks in on the new pot, I put money on Manoso, not you. Shirley thought it was good idea, after all she told me, '_**Everyone knows she belongs to him.' **_ Just face it, Stephanie will never be the burg wife you and her mother want to change her into."

Walking off, he heard Carl and Big Dog laugh at Eddie's comment to him. "Bout time someone called Morelli on all his crap. I took money from the bank and paid for Manoso as well."

Storming out of the office, he slammed his car door shut and headed out, not realizing just how much his day was going to change in a few short hours.

Not for the better.

"_**All available units, respond to the Lower Trenton Bridge, STAT. Ambulance and Police Rescue Team en route.**_

_**Rescue in Progress."**_

_**Morelli could tell by the acid reflux that was threatening to come up his throat, Stephanie was involved.**_

x0x0x0x0x0x0 _**TBC**_

a/n not mine.

did NOT read anything past 'one ranger is all you will ever need...' but I did always wonder what Morelli was doing while Ranger was saving his Babe...here's the answer...and of course its a/u.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N._** I feel the need to point out, I have not NOR have I ever read past book 12 and One Ranger is all you will ever need. The words coming from Edna, are my personal dislike for a fictional person.**_

_**Hangs head in shame...nah, I just dislike Morelli the same as I do Helen and someone else who is not mentioned in this story.**_

_**AU...don't know what happened on the bridge...but here is the continuation of Joe's bad day...tsk tsk .**_

"_**Mark My Words, Joseph Morelli..."**_

_**Previously; "...rescue in progress." **_

_**Morelli could tell by the acid reflux that was threatening to come up his throat, that Stephanie was involved.**_

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Morelli took his own sweet time heading for the bridge, truth be told he was still shocked about his house going up in flames...the house he worked so hard on, all his money, _**POOF! **_gone.

It was times like this that Joe really missed the goofball dog, Bob. He hated to give him back to Brian Simon, his original owner. But Simon transferred back to Trenton and could finally have the dog and the fenced in yard for his children and Bob to play in. Now, he had no one in his life. Not even Bob.

_**Flashback...still Morelli pov.**_

Morelli pulled the car over, instead of heading for the bridge for he remembered what Edna Mazur had told him. Cornering him at the deli, standing in line for his mom's weekly order of meats, Edna laid into him, but good. Of course, it didn't help matters that Joe was in the middle of the line, hoping it would move a little faster once Edna opened her mouth.

_**"I've been looking all over for you, Morelli. It's time we came to some understanding right this very minute. Otherwise, you can mark my words, Joseph Morelli, that All Your Dreams Will Go Up In Smoke. Your family has done nothing but make my baby granddaughter's life pure hell. From you and your garage and the dirty cold floor in the bakery...you wrote about her all over town and ran like the coward you are. Not to mention you cousin Kenny and the funeral home that was HIS fault in the first place. You hid that ORR creature, letting Stephanie think she was under the gun for a crime you KNEW ALL ALONG she didn't commit. And now, it is YOUR family trying to kill my baby girl and me, I won't stand for it anymore. **_

_**It's best you leave Stephanie alone, once and for all...Mark My Words, Joseph Morelli...it is bad enough that Stephanie thinks she is 'practically engaged to you' whatever that means. I'm here to tell you, YOU AND STEPHANIE WILL NEVER HAPPEN. NEVER. AS LONG AS I AM ALIVE, NOTHING WILL EVER COME TO BE, JUST LIKE YOUR DREAMS...IT WILL ALL GO UP IN SMOKE.**_

_**It is bad enough my own daughter is dangling Stephanie in front of every single man, just like Helen was her pimp. My Granddaughter is not a baby maker and the sooner you and Helen can get that through your heads the better off life will be...mark my words, Joseph Morelli.**_

_**I shudder to think what your children would be like, your genes mixed up with my baby girl's. Stephanie would always have to caution her own daughters never to go anywhere with any boy that had a garage...or she would keep an eye on her son, just to make sure he knew right from wrong, something NO ONE ever taught you. Leave Us Alone. It's over. Over, do you understand me? No more, 'the boys miss you,' no more looking down her shirt. What are you, a school boy? With that behavior, I'm not surprised how you turned out. After all your own Father beat his wife. The same way you already are badgering my girl into something you want, never asking her if she even loves you. You just assume too much Morelli. Which makes u an ass...Enough of your foolishness, nothing you ever wanted will ever happen, I will make sure all your dreams WILL GO up in smoke."**_

Joe was unable to look away from Edna's glare. Her blue eyes, just like her granddaughters, were locked onto him, focused like a lazer beam. He felt like a deer in the headlights as the whispers started, right after Edna left. The tinkle from the bell above the deli door marked her exit from the store.

_**Woosh!**_

_**It felt to Joe like his lungs were collapsing. Never had he been so humiliated before. Well, there was that time Stephanie hit him with the Buick, in front of God and everyone.**_

Joe had gone over and sat down on the bench by the meat case, unable to stand anymore. Hearing Edna telling him to "_**mark my words"**_ much like his Grandma Bella muttered to others that crossed her path.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo _**End of flashback**_

Coming upon the emergency traffic at the bridge, Joe observed some familiar faces being loaded into the back of Eddie and Carl's car. Some of Sunny's henchmen. Dread filled Morelli's stomach as he met Moe and Shorty's glare. He recognized that look.

_**Some one was gonna pay for messing up.**_

The wind had stilled and voices could be heard, clear as a bell. No one even had to look over the railing to see who was talking for all recognized the voice of Ranger Manoso, owner of Rangeman, Inc. The deep tone of his voice, was completely different to anything Morelli ever heard.

The bane of Morelli's life.

Joe heard the words that no one ever thought would come from that man's mouth.

"Babe, I'm so glad you're alive..."

Morelli finally gathered his courage , and peered over the rail.

His world tilted as he saw Ranger taking Stephanie's head between his hands, peering down into the blue eyes that Joe had taken for granted. Watching Ranger lower his head to his 'almost fiancee' was about the last straw for Morelli.

Unable to tear his eyes away, he stood there all the while remember what Edna told him, 'All your dreams will go up in smoke,' it seemed to Joe that was what he was seeing with his very own eyes, as he saw...

Stephanie's hands moving at a slower pace, but she drew Ranger's head to her, pulling him down to her, her fingers tangled in Ranger's hair as he slowly covered her mouth with his...

_**At **_ _**that very moment in time, Joe remembered something. That was HIS woman in someone else's arms. Well, his sometime's on and off girlfriend. Currently off, but pratically engaged. Surely that had to count...Right?**_

_**Not for long. Morelli was going to take pleasure in stopping this train before it got started.**_

_**One way or the other, Stephanie Plum was his. **_

_**Trouble was, neither Ranger or Stephanie were paying attention to all the drama around them. Wrapped in each others arms, their lives were just beginning.**_

_**tbc...**_

_**I picked the brain of LilyGhost numerous times and she laughed her ass off at Grandma cursing out Morelli. but what can I say?**_

_**time for Ranger to step up and get his woman, once and for all...**_

_**after all 'No Price does mean Ranger will pay the price for Stephanie by putting his own life in danger.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**The Rest Of Our Lives...**_

**Previously; **

_**Trouble was, neither Ranger or Stephanie were paying attention to all the drama around them. Wrapped in each others arms, their lives were just beginning.**_

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxooxox

Peering into each other's eyes, neither Stephanie or Ranger realized the drama unfolding up above on the bridge.

"_Let me go, damnit. That's my woman down there! She belongs with me, and you know it!" Joe exclaimed to Eddie and Big Dog. Holding his arms, keeping him from Stephanie, Joe was feeling more and more frustrated with everything._

"Just listen for once Morelli, shut your mouth and _**listen for all that is holy. For once, shut up and accept this fact as real..." **_Eddie told Morelli.

All three men had such different looks on their faces, witnessing the scene that was unfolding beneath their very eyes...

Ranger had managed to get Steph hauled up on his lap, Tank was there, tucking a couple of blankets around the couple. Standing at parade rest, Tank was nonetheless guarding his best friend and finally the woman he just claimed as his very own. Hector and Ram added to the layer of protection from the nosey folks of Trenton.

Meeting the blue eyes he had loved for years, Ranger started talking, "Babe, I've learned that people come into your life for a reason, maybe a season or maybe a lifetime. Meeting you in that diner, those years ago, made me realize that I want a lifetime with you. Hearing you saying your 'practically engaged to Morelli' almost broke me. I could have lost you forever, just now. _**This is our time, no one else's.**_"

Slowly Steph reached up to caress his face, peering into the brown eyes she herself had come to love in the years they had known each other, "Ranger, I realized just how much I needed to live, just to tell you how much _**I do love you, and need you in my life, for all time.**_ Once again, you saved me. You saved me from when I was handcuffed to my shower rod, from Abruzzi and Scrog...I need you, not just as my best friend, but any way you let me stay in your life. I don't want the ring, I never needed the marriage. I just need _**you."**_

Standing up, cuddling his future in his arms, Ranger slowly made his way to where the emergency workers were waiting.

As was Morelli, red faced, hands on his hips. Opening his mouth to no doubt start his rant, Stephanie beat him to the punch.

"_**Look Morelli, I'm not your mother, and I am not going to give up who I love in my life just to make you happy. And I'm damn sure not going to be MY mother, that's a fact. I don't want kids, at least not YOURS, and a burg wife lifestyle is not on my agenda at all. Go find someone else to fit into your Betty Crocker-Donna Reed way of life. This dream life of yours has crashed and burned."**_

Just like that, Stephanie and Ranger left the scene.

Leaving behind a open mouthed Morelli, all alone.

_**Hearing a voice in his head, "Mark my words Joseph Morelli, all your dreams will go up in smoke..."**_

A shiver ran down Morelli's spine, just thinking of all that happened to him with the space of a few hours...

Home burned down, leaving ashes.

Bob was back with his original owner.

And now, the woman he thought always would be his, left him alone.

What had he done wrong?

xoxxoxoxoxoxoxooxxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoox

a/n not mine

To me, everything Joe Morelli did in his life was wrong...from the garage to the tasty pastry, to hiding that freak Dickie Orr, to his juvenile looking down her shirt, 'the boys miss you'...

_**I throw my hands up in frustration that ol whats her name might really have stephanie be happy with his hairy jerk?**_

_**thank goodness for fan fiction.**_

_**And for the brain of Ms. T, who helped me out with a memorable line or three here.**_


End file.
